US Naval Reserve Midshipmens School - Capstan Yearbook (Notre Dame, IN)

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ealnanahip IDSHIPMAN S. Gish, whom all of you have undoubtedly met at one time or an- other during your midshipman career, excelled in all branches of 'study at Notre DZUUC, FCPOYYS to contrary notwithstanding, but his particular glow was Seamanship. joe fancied himself quite adept at mooring, sig- naling, etc., Qhaving once wandered over the Brooklyn Navy Yard for an entire day while work- ing for Western Unionl and gave numerous in- structors merry ned and sleepless nights with his innovations of Corp, Turn, Form and Posit, and the curious sealore he dug from Popular Science dur- ing his spare moments. - 'To Hnd out what sailing with an old salt is like we'll follow joe through a day's journey. joe knows all about mother told me I'd have days like this, and is about to prove they do happen. joeis ordinary place of abode being in the lower' bunk, just abaft the locker and slightly to star- board, the day begins as roomie hops lightly down on his shoulders at 0610 and utters a bright morn- ing greeting while joe shivers out of pajamas and into' undress blues. First classes are boring but joe is game and with no little effort keeps a fair. sense of humor well into the afternoon. ' 1 Seamanship is the coup de grace. Stanislaus, as his father always calls him, forgets to sound off as all section leaders should . . . and with his ego dented by public rebuke, sinks to his chair-de- 34 pressed, despondent, beaten-with his mother,s voice ringing in his ears, . ,Ioey, you now realize that your mother was right. lf mamais baby had gotten into the Quartermaster Corps, as Uncle Philbert advised, he wouldn't have Seamanshipf' Exhausted, reverie is in order and joe slowly leaves Plan Zand his classmates in the wake of a mythical ship. They don't appreciate me around here, they don't. Yes, and sure' as Mohammed, theylll end up some day all aurrounded by japs, and then I'll steam in and rescue 'em, and they'll be sorry for always putting melon report. The blinker merrily flashes short-long incompre- hensible messages from the wall, but the sea is choppy, land far beyond the horizon, and joe's brain swirling. ' Flukes, pendants, in again, out again, blinker, scuppers, runways and plugs . . . meanwhile the patient instructor plods- wearilylon, beating into civilian minds phraseology that swells B.j.M. to seven hundred odd pages and Knight's to many hundred more. Questions with little or no point are asked constantly . . . XNhat do you do when your landing barge runs aground? . . . Does the chain of command bear any resemblance to 'at short stay'?U . . . c'How many stars did Old Glory have in l873?', . . . On, on, endlessly into the night . . . or at least for nearly an entire hour. Yes, the naval phraseology and the devilish.in- tricacies of naval law and communications kept the dust off the books governed by the Seamanship department. joels only regret at the end of the course was that he could not go back to the days of windjammersland shout at the top of his voice, '4Avast, you lubbers, reef the topsailsln

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eamanalzip dab LT. G. A., WALRATH, USNR Bettineau, N. D. Mr. Walrath, head of the Seamanship department, is a graduate of North Dakota State college and holds an M.S. degree in engineering from Iowa State college. He entered the teaching profession on leaving Iowa State and was head of the Engineering department of the North Dakota School of Forestry prior to entering the Navy in August of 1942. After indoctrination at the Naval Reserve Ofhceras Training school in New York, Mr. Walrath was assigned to the Ordnance department of the Naval Training School at Columbia and was transferred to Notre Dame on March 1, 1943. x Lt.J. R. Grandfield, USNR Lt. H. S. Faust, USNR 1220 Ocean Ave. ' 220 E. Fourth St. Brooklyn, N. Y. Lewistown, Pa. New York Universigl Susquehanna, ,26 'Tvvi if ' Lt. fjgj R. W. Ludlum, USNR Lt. fjgj W. H. Raleigh, USNR Chester, N. Y. 2635 Farwell Ave. Cornell, '37 Milwaukee, Wis. U. af Wz':corLrz'n, '29 and '40 'ew fvi Lt. flgl L- Broyvnley, USNR Ens. W. H. Gregory, USNR Ens. C. L. Bryner, USNR Ens. D. D. Stolz, USNR 3 E. William St. 1963 Plymouth St. Dunbar, Pa. 412 N. Wiegel Ave. Bath, N- Y- Philadelphia, Pa. Waynexboro, '40 Watonga, Okla. Bfoown Law Sfhoafy '30 Temple '35 oklahoma C29 U. 240 321

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